Excerpt from Finance & Insurance Sector Industry Profile

Companies in this industry engage in financial transactions and create, liquidate, purchase, and sell financial assets such as securities, bonds, and insurance. Major finance and insurance companies include AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife, and Wells Fargo (all based in the US), as well as Allianz (Germany), AXA (France), BNP Paribas (France), and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Major global financial hubs include London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, and Zurich. Demand for sophisticated financial services is expected to grow in Asia, particularly in China, India, and Indonesia. Britain's pending exit from the European Union (aka Brexit) is expected to cause a portion of the UK financial services industry to migrate to the euro zone, putting London's future status as a global financial hub in doubt.

The US finance and insurance sector consists of about 470,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $4 trillion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by business activity, returns on investments, and consumer income. The profitability of individual companies depends on marketing, efficient operations, and investment expertise. Large companies often have advantages in access to cheaper capital, participation in large-scale transactions, and name recognition. Small companies can compete effectively through customer service, knowledge of the local market, innovation, and specialization. The sector in the US is fragmented: the largest 50 companies account for ...